3.5 out of 5 stars.

Imagine your entire life being controlled by a higher authority. Who your spouse would be, where you would live, what your career would be, when you would die.

Would you stay in the shadows of normalcy, against anything just shy of risque, or would you step into the sunlight of rebellion, anxious and hungry for some sign of difference in your world and the ability to choose?

These are the questions raised by the readers of Ally Condie’s rebellious and page-turning trilogy, Matched.

The novel is set in “the Society” in Oria Province, where a strict and controlling government, run by the Officials (overpowering “dictators” who enforce all rules), is prominent. Each month on the 15th, every Province, including Oria, holds a Matching Banquet, a ceremony every seventeen-year-old attends where they are paired with their future spouse. The Matched couple then receive marital status when they turn twenty-one.

Cassia Reyes, the main “heroine” of the series, is the all-too-good, quiet, and respectful girl every couple wishes their daughter to be, especially her parents, Abran and Molly. Cassia’s self-contained younger brother, Bram, looks up to her, but doesn’t depend on her for moral support like some siblings do. Bram has more of an independent demeanor. Abran’s father, Cassia & Bram’s Grandfather, is portrayed as Cassia’s most admired person during the story. Xander Carrow is Cassia’s best friend, and has been since young adolescence. They depend on each other for “foundation.” However, Ky Markham soon makes his way into the picture, written as Xander’s friend for some years and a not so well-known acquaintance to Cassia.

Cassia has always dreamt about her fairytale beginning of life, just as most girls at young ages do. However, Ally Condie doesn’t seem to have to the same approach to the magical lifestyle Cassia hopes for. Matched begins with Cassia, in a gorgeous green dress, and Xander, in a sharp suit, aboard a train en route to the Matching Banquet. As Cassia and Xander wish each other “optimal results” at the Banquet, they disembark from the train and head towards City Hall for the Ceremony. Neither realize how drastic of a turn both of their lives are about to take.

During the Matching Banquet, most children are Matched with someone from a different Province than theirs. This means they’ve never met or talked to them. The Society sets up communication days when the kids are permitted to talk to each other for the first time, and they also conduct the first outings of the couples. All activity is monitored and controlled by the Officials. However, once in a blue moon, someone can be Matched with someone else in their Province. When it’s finally Cassia’s turn to be Matched, her screen turns black, meaning only one thing: she’s been Matched with a boy from her Province. A voice comes on over the speakers and states, “Your Match is here tonight: Xander Thomas Carrow.”

The couple is overjoyed with the selection. Cassia and Xander both realize they were hoping to be Matched with each other. Unlike every other couple Matched that night, Cassia and Xander are allowed to be together with each other. They’re allowed to hold hands and kiss and show affection & passion for each other in public. The other couples cannot; they’ve been Matched with someone far away from them. Their calls and outings are planned for them by the Society, and the Officials supervise them. Cassia soon thinks she’s in love with her best friend, and didn’t think she ever would be. Xander has already fallen for her.

The beginning of the book seems to be going at a quick, yet not too hasty, speed. A pace just right for the average reader. However, after the start of the novel, the middle of the book is “stretched out” far too much. Too many details on non-important things that don’t really build up to the story’s climax, until it actually hits you. But why did Condie find it necessary to put too many details in the story? Was it just because she had too many ideas in her mind to fathom them all together? The added details in all of the books in the trilogy seem ridiculous and unworthy of a 5 star praise from reviewers.

The entire novel is completely like this, though. After Cassia and Xander get comfortable with their budding relationship, Cassia meets a long lost acquaintance who’s been friends with Xander for many years: Ky Markham. Ky is an Abberation, meaning he lacks the citizen status because he is “claimed” to have previously made an Infraction in the Society. Cassia and Ky are then paired up when participating in their morning hikes up rigorous hills.

Cassia seems to be in an almost nostalgic mood because she’s been Matched with the person she knows more than anyone else: her best friend. But sooner than later, Cassia begins to rebel against the Society’s rules. She and Ky begin to see each other in secret during their hiking activity.

Xander sooner than later finds out about Ky and Cassia, and doesn’t approve. “I came up on the screen, too, Cassia. But he was the one you chose to see.”

Cassia’s life quickly turns into a ricocheting and emotional love triangle. Does she want the sweet, appreciated, and nearly perfect Xander, who she knows will give her the simple, basic life she’s always looked forward to? Or does she crave Ky, the rebellious, quiet, and mischievous boy she has such a passionate longing for who she would risk life as she knows it for?

Matched is a dystopian romance novel, that young adult genre lovers might consider reading if they like the rebellious, light romance storylines.

Fans of the Beautiful Creatures or The Giver series might want to pick up Condie’s mixture of the dystopian environment portrayed in Lois Lowry’s The Giver, and the bittersweet romance that captured readers’ hearts between Ethan Lawson Wate and Lena Duchannes in Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.

Matched also has the “love triangle” that Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games trilogy depicts between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale. Readers of Collin’s series might want to consider Condie’s rendition of The Hunger Games.

All in all, Condie’s first installment in her trilogy is overwhelming in minute details, but controversial and evocative. The novel is sure to capture readers’ hearts, tearing them between supporting one of the two boys involved in Cassia’s life. The riveting read could be better, but I’m unsure of the fact whether I would change the plot if I had the ability to. Granted, Matched was Condie’s first trilogy, so she did have some inexperience writing a series about one main character with the same plot.

If you’re a fan of Beautiful Creatures, The Giver, or The Hunger Games series, consider Matched. Despite the dull and stretched out details of the novel, you will surely become attached and find yourself wanting more of the characters, setting, and plot.

Matched is followed by Crossed, and then finally, Reached.

Like Condie wrote, “It is one thing to make a choice and it is another thing to never have the chance.” So pick up a copy of Matched today!